Staggering 5-year prediction, Bitcoin surges

News.com.au

6 hours ago

Staggering predictions have been made about Bitcoin (BTC) as the digital asset surged in value overnight — with experts in the space claiming it could be worth 15 times more than its current value in the next five years.
The world's largest digital asset is up more than 3 per cent over the past 24 hours, as of this morning Australian time — with other cryptos also trending upwards.
It has seen a renewed sense of optimism about Bitcoin which has increased in value by 58 per cent in the past year, and is pulling close to an highest. It's now worth roughly $110,000.
'Bitcoin to grow 15 times'
Founder and CEO of ARK Investment Management, Cathie Wood believes its value will reach at least $1.5 million by 2030, growing by 15x from its current price.
In a recent interview on the YouTube channel The Diary of a CEO, said there are several 'building blocks' of BTC's growth in the market.
One of the major drivers is institutional investments from corporate holders such as Arkham, Strategy and Metaplanet.
'Bitcoin is more of an investment because it does appreciate overtime. Now you go through [it], it's volatile. No question. And that's the first thing people have to know about it. But it is becoming less volatile as more and more investors hold it,' she said in the interview.
She said institutional investors have only just started flocking towards BTC. She said this means crypto will see a flurry of demand from institutional holders who see the appeal of Bitcoin as a new asset class that offers diversification for business portfolios.
Ms Wood said the world has not had a new asset class since the 1600s with the introduction of equities. Since then, the global market's has been occupied by the same traditional assets including stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate. However now, there is a recent shift towards Bitcoin as a desirable asset.
'If this asset does not perform like other assets, in other words, it provides diversification for funds. And because it is behaving differently, institutions have to consider it,' she said.
She said the institutional players currently rushing to adopt Bitcoin are late, considering there is only 1 million BTC left to be minted by miners, which represents only around $100 billion worth of untapped capital.
'So they're [institutions] just now committing and there's only $100 billion of new market cap that is going to be created. Whereas they have trillions of dollars under management,' she said.
'And so we think there will be a lot of incremental demand, and to satisfy a lot of that demand. Someone's going to have to sell'.
Huge prediction for the end of the year
Meanwhile, Fundstrat CEO and legendary Wall Street trader Tom Lee remains massively bullish on Bitcoin's long-term prospects.
In a recent CNBC interview, Mr Lee said largest cryptocurrency will hit $150,000 by the end of the year, with the possibility of a continuation to $250,000.
Meanwhile, he believes Bitcoin will hit $3 million in the long term.
His Bitcoin forecasts have made traders take notice before. In 2019, he urged CNBC viewers to allocate 1–2 per cent of their portfolios to Bitcoin when it traded near $5,000, only to be laughed at on air.
He was also one of the earliest market analysts who predicted Donald Trump's victory — projecting that the Bitcoin price could hit $100k to $150k in the event of that happening.
Unsurprisingly, investors are no longer taking Mr Lee's Bitcoin price predictions as a joke.
Mixed signs for world economy, amid China-US talks
While Bitocin bounces, global stocks were mixed overnight as markets monitored high stakes US-China trade talks and awaited key inflation data later in the week.
Trade representatives for the world's two biggest economies plan a second day of talks on Tuesday in London following an opening round on Monday.
Although there were no breakthroughs, the market has welcomed the negotiations. 'There's hopes that they're inching closer to some sort of a deal,' said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.
New York's blue-chip Dow index finished flat while the broader S & P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq rose modestly.
Asian shares closed up on hopes of a deal, and catching up with Wall Street from Friday, when US jobs data suggested the American economy was doing well, for now.
The dollar, however, dipped amid fears of higher US inflation in the pipeline from Trump's generalised tariffs weighing on it.
London, Paris and Frankfurt indices all closed lower.
While the US economy has been showing resilience, official data on Monday showed China's exports to the United States last month grew at a slower pace than expected, even as they picked up to the EU and Asia.
The US-China talks took place following a call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday.
They sought a de-escalation after each had accused the other of violating terms of a tariffs reprieve struck in Geneva in mid-May.
'Some kind of accord would be welcome, but they might even be happy if the two sides merely agree to keep talking,' said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
Easing China's export controls on rare-earths was key for Washington, 'while China wants the US to rethink immigration curbs on students, restrictions on access to advanced technology including microchips, and to make it easier for Chinese tech providers to access US consumers,' said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
'The outcome of these discussions will be crucial for market sentiment,' she said.
The dollar's weakness came as economists warned that Trump's tariffs on most of the world could reignite inflation, and as the US Federal Reserve weighs whether to lower interest rates.
In corporate news, entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies.
One would be a streaming and studios company covering film and TV production and catalogues, and the other a global network company with television brands including CNN and Discovery, and free-to-air channels in Europe.
US semiconductor maker Qualcomm also announced it was buying a UK firm, Alphawave, for $2.4 billion as demand for database infrastructure heated up from demand in the AI sector.
Alphawave shares in London jumped almost 19 per cent.
Qualcomm's shares rose 4.1 per cent in New York.